Searching for Santa

A Secondhand Dress and Tears of Joy

By Dianne Gebhardt-French

It was a simple request. To be part of her school
choir on stage for the holiday show, the 8-year-old girl needed to wear
red. She had two outfits "” shirts and pants handed down from her older
brothers.

"You know Santa, more than anything I'd like to have
a red dress, so I can sing with my school choir," she told him. It was
not the only time a little one had tugged on Santa's heartstrings.

Another child says it's going to be a good Christmas
because Dad's been sober for a couple weeks or because Mom has a job.
Kids have shared more, but Santa's not saying. Santa is part counselor
and part magic.

As for the dress, he made it happen. From a stack of
clothing donations, there it was, a little dress. OK, it was more than a
wink of his eye and a twist of his head, but there it was.

"Just a secondhand red dress absolutely brought
tears of joy to this young child's face," Santa says, looking down
briefly at his folded hands. "Not a $300 video gaming system; it was
just a secondhand red dress so she could wear it and sing at her school
pageant," he says. He looks up and smiles.

I was searching for Santa. And I found him in
Northern Kentucky at the Brighton Center. His laugh is more a "ha, ha,
ha" that trails off gently and not the blustery punctuated "Ho! Ho! Ho!"
of Santa lore. But it is warm and frequent. His smile does cause his
eyes to twinkle. And, he believes.

The search led me to a place where teams of elves
are hard at work sorting and cleaning used toys. Where appeal letters
have gone out to big companies to support Adopt-a-Family and other
efforts. Where staff and volunteers will bring Christmas to seniors and
homeless teenagers. Where, surrounded by paintings and artifacts of
Alaska, it seems like this guy could be very at home in the North Pole.
But it's what he says that is most convincing.

"Kids truly get the true spirit of Christmas," Santa says. "And I think that is the magic of the holidays.

"They're not as jaded as we have become and they can
truly see the holidays for what they really are "” a time when the
impossible can become the possible. When the extraordinary can become
the ordinary."

The line between magic and everyday things is lifted, he says.

"I've seen that. We've seen the impossible happen
here for families. We've seen families reunited at Christmas. So, yes, I
believe in Santa Claus and I truly believe that children truly do sense
the true spirit of the holiday and more than we give them credit for."

Led By A Child

He certainly gives them credit for selflessness. He
tells the story of one young boy who took his mother's hand and told her
he didn't need anything. Of another boy who bought a GI Joe for his
little brother, leaving him no money for a present for himself.

They bring their quarters and dimes to the used toy
sale just a few days before Christmas and pick out gifts. You can buy a
toy for a nickel. You can buy a bike for a dime. Hundreds of children
line up two or three blocks for a chance to shop not only for themselves
but for friends, parents and brothers and sisters.

"They'll sacrifice their own Christmas wishes, if
you will, just to ensure their younger siblings have something
underneath the tree for Christmas," he says.

Bah humbug, Santa says, to charges that the holiday is lost in an electronic-hungry frenzy.

Kids sit on Santa's lap and ask for coats. Or gloves.

At a shelter serving homeless teenagers, the gift
lists are simple. Sweatshirts, socks. They want personal care items. For
just a moment when he walks into the room, even the cynical ones often
allow themselves a smile. He is, after all, Santa. "You know what those
kids ask for? It's not an iPod or anything. They want a family," he
says.

"When they are alone on Christmas Eve and our staff is the only family they've got," he says, they want a family.

To
drop off gently used toys, support Adopt-a-Family, organize a toy
collection or make a cash donation, you can track down Santa, c/o
Development Director Bear Clifton, Brighton Center, 741 Central Ave.,
Newport. (859) 491-8303 or bclifton@brightoncenter.com.